1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic commerce and network information management services. More particularly, it relates to a method, system, and computer network product for assessing the value of and/or locating used objects for sale, particularly pre-owned automobiles, across a network such as the Internet.
2. Background of Related Art
The present-day marketplace of buying and selling automobiles has many inefficiencies which result in poor productivity and lost sales. It is estimated that in 2002, there were approximately 43 million pre-owned automobiles for sale in the United States. However, these millions of automobiles are advertised for sale in countless, disjointed electronic databases and classified advertising. Consumers seeking to make an automobile purchase must sift through these numerous databases in a cumbersome and frustrating process. Often, when a desired advertisement is located, the price data is outdated or inventories are depleted. A drawback of this process is difficulty in reaching a confident purchasing decision.
Conventional search engines do not solve the problems. For instance, when performing a search for a “1993 Porsche 911”, conventional search engines are not able to satisfactorily distinguish from toys, photos, museums, fan websites, etc., leaving the user to manually sort through literally thousands of located web sites in search of a car for sale, and even then it is hoped that the located car is still for sale. A laborious process at best, and useless at worst.
A further drawback with regard to the present-day avenues for buying and selling used items such as automobiles relates to location information. For example, in the case of used automobiles, BMWs may sell for thousands of dollars more in San Francisco than in other markets, and Mercedes-Benz automobiles extract a similar premium in the Los Angeles area, as compared with other cities. The disjointed resource of classified advertising makes it difficult for consumers to obtain accurate price information and realize such geographic disparities in automobile pricing.
There is a need for a system that is capable of efficiently providing a user with current and accurate information regarding used items for sale, and which is capable of providing guidance for better decision making for both buyers and sellers.